Huanchaco, Peru - Finding a Rental

From Plaza de Armas looking toward sea - waves peeling off everyday with no one surfing them. Sick.

~ submittted by David and Lin in Huanchaco, Peru

In August, 2013, Lin and I moved to Huanchaco, a fishing-turned-tourist town with a long cultural history.

Located just 20 minutes by bus from the center of Trujillo, Huanchaco provides a beach atmosphere from thousands of local tourists as well as a continual stream of travelers from other countries.

When we arrived in Huanchaco, we stayed at El Oceano, a very small hotel run by Carlos and his wife Esperanza. We noticed that his hotel had gotten a TripAdvisor award for 2013, yet it was priced very modestly at 20 soles off-season rate for 2 people. That is about $8.00 USD for 2 people per night.

We ended up staying at El Oceano for 3 weeks while we looked for a place within our budget ($200 per month).

There were quite a few rooms, apartments, and houses available for rent. We knew beforehand that we needed to get to Huanchaco and find a place before the tourist season started in December.

From December to around the end of February is vaction time here in Peru.

At the beach the sun is out, the weather is warm, and the prices go up as Huanchaco is inundated with surfers and general beachgoers. We had experienced the difficulty of finding a rental during this season, the "temporada," when we had moved to Northern Peru in December a few years back and we definitely wanted to avoid that experience this time around.

Because we planned to stay in Huanchaco, Peru indefinitely, we were looking for certain requirements necesary to our comfort that wouldn't have been too important for a short stay, like lots of windows for light and ventilation, 2nd-floor or above to get away from street noise, dust, etc, and a quieter street not near pubs, discos, schools (yes, they are very loud here), or recreation areas.

With the help of our local support group (we are Jehovah's Witnesses) we were finally able to get into an apartment meeting the above requirements for exactly the top end of our "presupuesto" or budget - $200 USD.

For a little more, like $400 USD a month, we checked out some very attractive apartments some of which were brand new and fully furnished, including hot water and Wi Fi.

The apartment we ended up in has it's ideosycracies and drawbacks but does meet our requirements.

It is only blocks from the beach, 2 blocks from the market, and is in the old part of town on a quieter street.